An explainer video is essentially a short advertisement explaining a company or product. It is helpful for building a customer base, as it introduces you and your product to the world. However, a great explainer video will only do well if it has a good script to back it up. If it is too cheesy or tries to sell the product too hard, it will turn customers away rather than turning them on to your product.

Steps

Part 1

Brainstorming Your Script

1

Address the basic questions. First, you need to answer some basic questions: what makes your product, company, or idea great? If you’ve been in development for a while, you likely have a short description of what’s good about your product already. But what makes it unique? What problem does it solve?

2

Determine your audience. If you have been in development, you should already have an idea of who your audience is. However, if you still aren't sure, you can run tests on groups of people to see who connects with your product.

Invite people to try it out, then ask them to answer a few short survey questions to determine demographics and how well they liked your product.

3

Think about ways you can present your idea uniquely. If you’ve figured out what makes your product unique, try to figure out how to transfer that uniqueness into the format you plan on using.

Some explainer videos use a white board, chalk board, or a piece of paper with someone drawing out the explanation as a voice narrates. Some use animation. Many use humor. Decide on a unique approach for your video.

Part 2

Writing the Script

1

Begin by introducing your product or company. Keep it concise and to the point. A few sentences or a short paragraph will do here. In fact, if you can show what your product does rather than just telling the audience, that will work even better.

For example you could say, “Our new shoes are a novelty on the market. When wearing them, you will levitate 3 inches (7.6 cm) above the ground.”

However, it would be more effective to show short clips of people actually wearing the shoes and levitating.

2

Talk about the niche your product serves. For instance, if you have a great new music service, discuss what was missing in music apps that made you want to design your own. Then discuss how your product fills that niche.

Think of this section as a more detailed description of your product and company. Anticipate the questions your viewers might have.

A great way to find out those questions is to do a test screening of a preliminary video. Get reactions from everyday viewers, and incorporate that information into your video.

3

Remember that a video script is not an essay. Do not make it too wordy. Think of it as a dialogue. When writing it, read it aloud to yourself or have someone else read it aloud. It should sound natural, not stilted.

Take out words you don’t use in your everyday language, and don’t be afraid to use contractions and informal language.

Informal language, like using “y’all” or “you guys,” invites the listener into the conversation.

4

Think visually. When writing, think about how it will look visually because eventually the script will narrate something visual. In other words, use language that can be animated.

If your product is levitating shoes, you might say “These shoes provide lift through their gravity-reducing soles. See how she glides above the ground.” instead of “These shoes make you look cool.”

5

Create an overarching narrative. People like stories. Tell them a story about your product that runs through the video.

6

End with action. Tell your viewers what they need to do to get your product, whether it’s visiting a website, contributing to a Kickstarter campaign, or downloading an app.

The point of the video is to get people interested. However, you must give people something to do with that interest, or they will walk away. Keep it simple. Anything too complicated will turn people away.

You can write something like, “Want to find out more? Check out our product at www.website.com!” or “Like what you see? Visit our Kickstarter page to help fund our product!”

Part 3

Adding the Finishing Touches and Editing

1

Stick to your brand. You want the video to remind your viewers of your brand. Therefore, use similar language to what you use on your website and pick a similar style of graphics.

If your brand is more professional, use professional language.

If your brand is more quirky, use language that reflects that quirkiness.

2

Be careful not to get entangled in jargon, and use short sentences. Using a lot of jargon or using convoluted, run-on sentences can be confusing and off-putting for your audience. Pretend you are describing your product to your grandma. You want to reach as wide an audience as possible.

3

Pick a target audience. Though you want to reach a wide audience and your language should reflect that, your product is most likely meant for a particular audience. Gear your script and format to that audience. It’s ok to use some younger slang (that everyone understands) if that’s who your audience is.

For instance, if you want to discuss a particular problem your product is addressing or even if you want to poke fun at yourself, you could use slang like “epic fail.”

Be sure to address the audience as “you,” as it will draw them in

4

Remember to keep it light. Generally, viewers will connect more with something lighthearted than with something very serious. Try poking a bit of fun at yourself in the process.

5

Edit your script. Check your script for errors. Make sure you have grammatically correct sentences. It's a good idea to give the script to someone else to look over, as they will pick up on any errors you might have missed

6

Cut your script down. Overall, a great script is short, to the point, and memorable. A good length for an explainer video is 1 minute to 1 ½ minutes, which is approximately 140 to 180 words per minute or 210 to 270 words per minute and a half.

7

Make your script memorable. Stand out from the crowd in the style of video you use or in the humor you use. Try something innovative with animation or draw your viewers in with a set of trivia questions. Maybe what makes your video “memorable” is what you’re offering to the viewer—a new idea or a great offer. Pick something that will stick with them for a while.